Voltage converter circuits are common components of many electrical and electronic systems having loads that are to be driven by regulated DC voltages. For example, many electronic systems include integrated circuits and other loads that require a relatively stable DC voltage. As such, these systems typically include a DC power supply for converting unregulated DC input power received from a battery, or from an AC line voltage via a rectifier, into a stable regulated DC power output to be applied to the integrated circuit or other system loads, such as a DC motor.
One common type of DC-DC voltage converter circuit that is commonly included in DC power supplies is referred to in the art as the switch-mode DC-DC voltage converter. As known in the art, switch-mode DC-DC “buck” converters (or “step-down” converters) produce an output voltage that is lower, on average, than its input voltage, while “boost” converters (or “step-up” converters) produce an output voltage that is higher, on average, than its input voltage. Modern conventional regulated DC power supplies often include a switch-mode DC-DC converter of a “buck-boost” topology, which is effectively a combination of the “buck” and “boost” converter circuit types. Buck-boost voltage converters are capable of producing an output voltage that may be either higher or lower than the received input voltage.